Mulayam's family priestshot in his Jaunpur village

LUCKNOW: An astrologer and family priest of Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav was shot dead and his brother critically wounded on Thursday morning when four gunmen in police uniforms opened fire with their carbines at the two outside their ancestral home in Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh, 215 km from Lucknow. The manner in which the murder was committed suggested the use of contract killers.

The deceased, Ramesh Tewari, 38, was popularly known as 'Guruji' and also linked to a number of other top politicians, including former chief ministers, some high-flying bureaucrats, and real estate giants. Tewari's murder sent the police top brass into a tizzy. Apart from the Jaunpur district police chief and his subordinates, deputy inspector general (DIG), Varanasi Range, Satish Ganesh, IG Zone GL Meena and additional director general of police (law and order) Arun Kumar, too, rushed to the crime scene immediately after the incident came to light. Two STF teams were also summoned to Jaunpur who started investigation immediately.

Tewari, who used to live in Lucknow, had reportedly gone to his ancestral home at Unchagaon village under Sarpatah police station of Jaunpur for Diwali. On Thursday morning, he was sitting outside his house talking to the locals when four people dressed as policemen arrived at the scene on two motorcycles. The four 'cops' carrying carbines, touched his feet to seek his blessings and the 'Guruji' obliged. "The four then sat down near Guruji. As this was nothing unusual and everybody has seen even senior IAS and IPS officers seeking his blessings, no one could smell a rat," said an eye-witness talking to the TOI on phone from Jaunpur.

After a few minutes, the men in khaki got up and one of them opened fire at him, hitting Ramesh more than twice. His brother Rajesh, who was sitting near him, also suffered gunshot wounds. The assailants then walked away from the scene unchallenged as all others present at the scene had ran away in panic. Once the assailants left, Ramesh and his brother Rajesh were rushed to the district hospital in Sultanpur where Ramesh was pronounced 'brought dead'. His brother was referred to the King George's Medical University (KGMU) for further treatment and his condition was described as critical but stable.

Janupur superintendent of police Manzil Saini, however, claimed that only two persons dressed as policemen had arrived at the scene contradicting the eye-witness account which said that four miscreants were involved in the crime. The police were however tightlipped over the possible motives for the murder. Locals said that Tewari was also known for helping bureaucrats with service issues like transfer-postings or pending inquiries against them. He was also known to be helping real estate giants and top contractors in their business matters through his rituals, pujas and personal connections as well.

The very fact that four persons dressed as policemen and carrying carbines suggest possibilities of some hardcore contract killers being assigned the job. The use of carbine also adds weight to the possibilities of a well-equipped professional gang being involved in the crime. "The miscreants only targeted Guruji and his brother suffered gunshot wounds because he was sitting besides him on the other side and was apparently hit by stray bullets rather than being targeted and shot," said a senior police officer who visited the crime scene after the incident.

Locals however claimed that Guruji's father Rajendrsa Prasad Tewari had contested the last panchayat elections with the backing of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) during which he had a tiff with the village pradhan Jharkhande Singh. Singh's son Dr Rakesh Singh is a private medical practitioner who owns and runs a private nursing home in Jaunpur city. Police have detained the village pradhan, his son and his wife and were questioning them till late on Thursday evening.